The present invention relates generally to apparatus for quickly and easily removing used fishing line from a fishing reel, and which permits the fishing line to be collected for easy and safe disposal.
Fishermen frequently encounter the problem of removing large quantities of used fishing line from a fishing reel, and while the need to remove such used line can arise in a number of different situations, the most common circumstances are to replace the used line with a line of a different test or to reload the reel with a fresh supply of new line when the used line is no longer serviceable.
Presently, the most common way to remove used line is simply to pull it off the fishing reel manually, and since the line is generally wrapped somewhat tightly around the reel, the manual removal of the used line is a time consuming and unpleasant chore, particularly where the manual unwinding must be carried out within the confines of a relatively small fishing boat on the water.
The difficulties associated with manually unwinding used line are further exacerbated by the problem of what to do with the used line after it has been removed from the reel. Fishermen seldom take the time to simultaneously wind the used line on another core, and, as a result, the used line is generally permitted to simply accumulate in a disoriented and tangled bundle that can occupy a large space if the used line has an extended length. Moreover, less than careful fishermen will frequently dispose of this bundle of tangled line by dumping it overboard into the water where it can cause serious and long term problems to the natural environment, as well as to other boats and fishermen (e.g. by becoming tangled about the screw of the boat).
Apart from the aforesaid manual unwinding of used line, some tackle shops have large stationary equipment that includes an electric motor having a plastic reel attached thereto for rotation by the motor so that used line can be wound onto the plastic reel. This plastic reel is formed in two parts that can be separated, after the winding operation is complete to permit removal of the used line from the plastic reel. This commercial equipment has a number of disadvantages from both the tackle shop owner's and the customer's standpoint. As to the tackle shop, this commercial equipment is expensive to buy and operate, it is not suited to home use, and it does not provide any convenient way to dispose of the used line when it is removed in bulk from the plastic reel. From the fisherman's or customer's standpoint, taking a reel to a tackle shop for replacement of used line on the aforesaid commercial equipment is undesirable for many reasons. First, it is inconvenient to make the trip to the tackle shop, and, once there, the tackle shop may not have the right line or may not have the time to put on new line while the fisherman waits. Also, it is necessary to take the reel off of its rod before taking it to the tackle shop, which is often a time consuming job where large salt water reels are being removed. Finally, the fisherman or customer often cannot see the new line being put on the reel, and sometimes the tackle shop will put old line on the reel rather than new line, or apply the line to the reel in an improper manner.
There is also a commercially available device which is battery operated and about the size of a flashlight, and it includes a small rotor element that is rotated by the batteries and includes a construction which permits the end of a used fishing line to be inserted therein and pulled off of a fishing reel as the small rotor element is turned whereupon the line simply drops to the floor as it is pulled off of the fishing reel. Obviously, this device suffers the disadvantage of leaving fishing line in a pile, and because the rotor element is small, it requires many rotations when long lengths of fishing line are being removed, thereby reducing the effective life of the batteries to a point that the device may be impractical for many fishing line removal operations.
In accordance with the present invention, the aforesaid problems of unwinding used line from a fishing reel are substantially eliminated by a simple and inexpensive apparatus that permits the used line to be quickly and easily unwound from the reel and automatically collected in an organized form that permits it to be readily and properly disposed of without endangering the environment.